I'm a Redskins fan ... I'm a writer ... I combined the two ... nuff said. For a longer explanation about why this blog exists, read the very first post... Enjoy if you must!

Monday, September 14, 2009

First game wrap-up - stupidity rules the day

You can have all the talent in the world, but if you play stupidly, you'll lose more than you'll win. That sums a up a lot of the Skins-Giants game for me. That, and bad tackling. But I'm more afraid of stupid decisions.

Let me first say, I like Coach Zorn and want to see him succeed. And I like Jason Campbell and want to see him succeed... Having said that, I was disappointed in them the first game, more Coach Zorn than Campbell. Jason made some bad decisions -- especially that awful interception when he was already over the line of scrimmage, and his not stepping up into the pocket when he had the ball stripped. But, my bigger disappointment is with Zorn. I thought he called a horrible game. The one thing that was working was the passing game over the middle. When the Patriots beat the Skins 52-7, it seemed like they kept marching down the field with the same plays. We didn't stop it, so they didn't stop doing it... But Zorn vastly underutilized this, and didn't make the Giants stop it first before moving onto other things that may have opened up because of it... I lost count how many times he called runs on 1st and 2nd and then failing on 3rd to get a first. Sooo frustrating!

I also hated his call for the Randle El trick play. It wasn't a necessary time for that. We hit them with a big running play. We were close to field goal range. Keep running or do play action! And it bothers me that he's defending it.

Randle El had a great game, but he made a stupid decision when he took that huge sack. Momentum killer.

I think more than anything, stupidity lost the game -- against a very, very good team in their stadium. But if you play stupid against the Rams and Detroit, they'll probably beat the Skins, too. That's how it works.

Stupidty list:

1) Wasted timeouts (alignment problems -- smart teams don't do this).

2) The Randle El pass was a stupid call and a stupid decision by Randle El. We just had a huge run, trickery wasn't needed there.

3) Jason Campbell -- not stepping up in the pocket when Osi stripped him. And the interception when he was over the line of scrimmage. Just run it!

4) Santana Moss -- punching a guy. He got lucky the other guy fought back. It's an emotional game but stupid penalties get you losses.

5) Portis: On one important drive, Portis could have had a first down if he kept running straight forward and plowed over someone. He has a bad habit of heading sideways and trying to outrun someone, but he's not as fast as he used to be and he gets tackled. This time it made it 3rd and 2 and the Skins didn't get the first down.

6) Play calling: It seemed like we could pass on them. Too many runs (on 1st and 2nd down) that went for 2 yards.

8) Snap count penalties drawing offsides - maybe Manning should just be credited for his instead, but how come the Skins never seem to draw cadence offside infractions?

Now onto the other parts of the game:

1) DeAngelo Hall was awful, especially his tackling. Landry was the main reason for his interception. He has to do better.

2) If the secondary doesn't improve, they're in trouble all season.

3) I didn't see much of a pass rush. They played, arguably, the best O-Line in the league, but they'll never beat a team like the Giants unless they get a pass rush.

4) Some teams just match up well with other teams. In Gibbs I in the late 80s, it seemed like we usually lost to the Parcells Giants, but beat the Buddy Ryan Eagles, who in turn usually beat the Giants... If we beat the Eagles twice again, then maybe it's late 80s deja vu.

5) I think they played better than they did last year against the Giants in the first game (yeah, I'm stretching).

6) As for Haynseworth -- he's played one game, and the first game of the season. There seems to be far too many "Is he worth the contract?" stories written and blog comments today. That's idiotic. He'll get his wind and play more of each game. First games, in the heat, usually have less participation from big guys. So he needed a few breathers. Judge him at the end of the season. If he's healthy, I strongly believe he'll make a difference on this team, and we'll start seeing it soon.

Positives: It's week one against a very good team in their home stadium. The season is not over. I didn't think Jason played well, but he didn't throw 4 picks like that whiny little bitch Cutler.

About Me

Who am I? I’m a writer who lives in Los Angeles. I spent the first 22 years of my life in Maryland, most of it in Columbia. I'm a huge sports nut, with the Washington Redskins being my favorite. Read my first post to see my FULL bio (apparently, it was too long for this section.)
Oh, and to see what else I do online, check out my weekly Hollywood web comic: www.StudioReaderStan.com.